The Bloom Titan (1/2)

CH:59: Discovery of the Unknown

"S-So, we managed to seal the walls of Shiganshina... But Reiner, the Beast Titan, and one other escaped.. .Bertholdt was captured... Then... there was a dispute... about using the injection on Commander Erwin or me... And I... turned into a Titan and ate B-Bertholdt." Armin's breathing becomes heavy and he suddenly looks as if he's gonna be sick but instead he starts coughing.

Jean gets up and crouches down next to Armin, handing him his flask. "Here." Armin takes it and gulps down the water in large amounts. He lets his hands fall back down onto his lap with the flask and he starts hyperventilating, his blue eyes wide like an owl's pair.

"Why did you pick me? No matter how you look at it, wasn't Commander Erwin the right one to bring back?" He looks up at Levi. "Captain, why did you give me the injection?!"

Levi makes his signature 'tch' and kicks Eren in the back. "I told you to tell him everything." He looks down at Armin as Eren rubs his back. "The thing is, it seems your two friends here didn't think that way. They stood up to me and Ezlyn... prepared to draw blood." He sits his hands on Mikasa and Eren's heads.

Armin frowns and looks at his guilty friends. "Huh?" He breathes.

"We'll take whatever punishment comes." Eren says apologeticly.

"You'll be disciplined for insubordination, but... Does taking the punishment allow you to do anything?" Hanji asks, weaving her fingers into a basket and resting her chin in it.

Eren gulps and looks away. "No..." Mikasa sighs and fidgets with her fingers.

"However... The final decision to choose you was mine. No... I chose this to be the place where Erwin dies." Levi corrects himself. Crossing his arms and looking at Armin out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't understand..." Armin furrows his eyebrows. "There's no way it's okay to let Commander Erwin die... If the commander is gone, how... how will we go on?"

"I agree." Hanji adds. "I thought it should've been used on Erwin... if we're being brutally honest, that is. No... It's a shame we were put in that position in the first place. It made our strong Ezlyn here cry, which is very rare. Infact it made most of us cry. Anyways, Erwin entrusted Levi with the decision to use it. And Levi ended up choosing you. There's nothing more to say. Erwin's life and a Titan's power rest on your shoulders. No matter what anyone says, that's part of who you are now, Armin." Hanji finishes.

I sigh and fall onto my back, gazing at the blue sky above. Watching as the clouds pass by. I zone out, not listening to the conversation anymore. I'm too tired. Too tired to listen to things I've heard about already.

I bring my arm up over my eyes and close them. I let the tears slip from my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I lift my arm and stretch it out above my head. A familiar set of cognac eyes are hovering over me with a look of concern spread over them.

Jean wipes a tear from my cheek with his thumb and gazes into my eyes. "Has anyone told you how pretty your eyes are?" He asks, sounding mesmerised. I feel my ears go red.

"N-No. I don't think so." I stutter, sitting up and wiping my cheeks with my sleeve. But, he continues to look into my eyes.

"Well I'm shocked. They've got deep green on the outside, but as you get to the middle they turn a teal color. It's the definition of beautiful." He smiles. I feel myself go red in the face. I turn away and scoff.

"Please don't tell me your going to steal my eyes and sell them on the Black Market. And anyway's, since when were you so observant?" I look at him out of the corner of my eye.

He snorts. "Don't tell me you didn't know I love drawing." He deadpan's. My eyes widen. Out of all my years of being a soldier, I have never known my best friend likes drawing. I do remember Marco telling me about the drawings of a girl that creepily looks like Mikasa but that was it.